Whats Going On

Increased and competing pressures on our use of land: for wildlife, water supply and management, food production, biofuels and biomass, carbon stewardship, transport, housing and recreation – pose an escalating environmental challenge at every level. What is our long term vision for land use in the UK, and how can we achieve this?

The seven prominent speakers in this series will provide new insights and suggest possible solutions for the management of this key resource:

17 October 2008 'Whose land is it anyway? And how can government policy reconcile competing demands on it in an era of climate change?’
Professor Philip Lowe OBE, Director of the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme

24 October 'Farming futures: will there be room for wildlife?'
Dr Chris Stoate, Head of Research, GWCT 'Allerton Project' Farm.

31 October 'Integrated River Basin Management: managing land and water in an integrated way'
Pam Gilder, Head of Wildlife, Recreation, Marine and River Basin Management, Environment Agency

7 November 'Brownfield and Urban Issues' 'The Big Brownfield Biodiversity Botch'.
Matt Shardlow, Chief Executive Officer, Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust

'Sustainable cities - a space for nature?'
Pete Massini, Future London Programme Manager, Natural England

14 November 'Eco-Towns: Will they be Eco-? Can they become Towns?'
Professor Sir Peter Hall, Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration,
UCL; President, TCPA

21 November 'For ever, for everyone: What does the nation need from land?'
Tony Burton, Director of Strategy and External Affairs, The National Trust Download the Autumn 2008 Brochure (pdf, 100k) which includes full details.

Join the debate. All welcome. Free ticket admission.

The lectures will be held in Birkbeck, University of London, WC1.
For free tickets and venue details, contact tel: 020 7679 1069, or e-mail: environment@fll.bbk.ac.uk.

All lectures are from 6.30 to 8.30 pm on the following Fridays. Doors open at 6.00pm.

The Ecology and Conservation Studies Society welcomes new members. Details of the Society and application forms will be available at the door, and are on the Birkbeck website at: www.bbk.ac.uk/ce/environment .

Schumacher Lectures and Conference 2008

Submitted by auto transfer on 16 September 2008 - 1:58pm

Leeds Schumacher Lectures 2008

Transforming the Global Economy: Solutions for a Sustainable World

Susan George
Ann Pettifor
Andrew Simms

Saturday 4 October 10am-5pm
Leeds Metropolitan University Civic Quarter Site

£20.00 conc. £10.00

Organised by Schumacher North in partnership with the George Mitchell Centre for Peace and Global Responsibility, Leeds Metropolitan University and School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds

The Leeds Schumacher Lectures 2008 will address the issues of economic justice and ecological sustainability posed by the increasing dominance of global corporations in the international economy. The three speakers are internationally recognised as leading activists in the quest for an alternative, just and sustainable international economic order, and the intention of this day of lectures and dialogue is to inform and inspire effective local action in support of practical initiatives aimed at creating this new order.

Susan George is one of the most outstanding defenders of alternative globalization. She is Chair of the Planning Board of the Transnational Institute, having previously served on the Board of Greenpeace International and acted as a consultant to various United Nations specialised agencies.

Ann Pettifor is executive director of Advocacy International, an international organisation working with low-income countries to promote positive development, investment and environmental sustainability in those countries. She helped to design and lead Jubilee 2000, an international campaign which succeeded in bringing about the cancellation of $100bn of debt owed by 42 countries.

Andrew Simms is Policy Director for the New Economics Foundation and head of the Climate Change programme at the Centre for Global Interdependence. He is a board member of Greenpeace UK and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Europe and was one of the original campaigners for the Jubilee 2000 Coalition debt campaign.

To Book:
Fill in the attached Booking Form and return to:
Leeds Metropolitan University International Faculty, G02 Macaulay Hall, Headingley, Leeds LS6 3QS

Or book online at www. schumacher-north.co.uk or by phone on 0113 812 5263

Further information from: Schumacher North, 57 Riviera Gardens, Leeds LS7 3DW, Tel. 0113 262 7914, or Email info@ schumacher-north.co.uk

BRISTOL SCHUMACHER CONFERENCE 2008

LESS IS MORE: Can we Really Live Better by Consuming Less?

The event will take place at the Bristol City Council, College Green on Saturday 11 October 2008, 9.45am - 6pm

Quote from Jonathon Porritt

"This year, we are marking the 30th Anniversary of Fritz Schumacher's death, and we are doing things a little differently. Not so much a 'line-up of Lecturers' as a great sharing of new ideas from passionate advocates for change, outspoken controversialists and a dozen leading practitioners - the people making change happen on the ground now. Our theme ("Less is More") goes right to the heart of today's debates about climate change, worsening injustice, peak oil, the credit crunch, food security, health inequalities, resource wars and so on.&quo

Permaculture Book Launch, London

Submitted by auto transfer on 16 September 2008 - 1:56pm

Permaculture Book Launch, London

You are cordially invited to the launch of the second edition of 'PERMACULTURE: A BEGINNERS GUIDE' written and illustrated by Graham Burnett on Friday 19th September, 7pm onwards at The Reading Rooms, Housmans Bookshop, 5 Caledonian Road, King Cross, London N1 9DX (5 minutes walk from Kings Cross station).

"We live in challenging times. Peak oil has made us aware that many of the resources we depend upon are limited; rivers are running dry; deforestation continues at an alarming rate; and we are beginning to experience the effects of climate change.

Our future need not be full of doom and gloom. There is indeed a way forward, and that way is exciting! Permaculture offers us the chance to create a low energy sustainable society, where, through careful design, and with a new awareness, we can begin to solve and maybe even undo some of the problems we have caused. Everything I have come to understand about the principles of permaculture is summed up in this wonderfully readable and accessible book."

From the forward by Brigit Strawbridge of BBC TV's ‘Its Not Easy Being Green’.

What is Permaculture? Why do we need Permaculture? What are Permaculture ethics and the principles of working with nature’s patterns? What are the basics of the Permaculture design process? What are concepts such as zones, sectors, edge, stacking and succession, and how they can work for us? How can you use Permaculture practically in your life, home, garden, land or community, whatever your situation?

An experienced permaculture practioner, designer and teacher, Graham Burnett will be providing all the answers. This is the latest edition of his book on the subject, which includes a forward written by Brigit Strawbridge. ‘Permaculture, a Beginners Guide’ will encourage you to apply its ethics and principles of sustainability, and working with rather than against nature, to your land (whether it’s a windowbox or a 1000-hectare farm), your community and your life.

For more information see www.spiralseed.co.uk/flyer